Abstract
This paper attempts to answer the question whether justice evaluations of income inequality in a society are determined more by country differences or by the social position an observer occupies. In very general terms what we study is whether, in shaping justice beliefs, cultural factors are more important than social-structural ones, or vice versa. In view of transformation societies, country differences are conflated with differences in the transformation processes the countries are experiencing. This is why we distinguish different types of transmations with regard to the postcommunist countries of Eastern and Central Europe testing empirically whether these transformation types exert influence on the justice beliefs, and how this influence compares to that of positional effects. With International Social Justice Project (ISJP) data of 1991 and 1996, we study the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, East Germany, and—as a western referent society—West Germany. Main results are that in the early phase of transformation the different transformation types as well as social positions matter in shaping justice evaluations, over time, however, the types of transformation clearly lose influence. In 1996, compared to 5 years earlier, the countries have become similar in that most of the variation in the perception of the income justice must now be attributed to the positional differences of individuals. We conclude that the characteristics of the transformation processes decrease in importance for determining public views about social justice. In this respect, the transformation societies of Eastern and Central Europe may well be on the route to becoming more like western societies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adam, J. (1996). Social cost of transformation in the Czech Republic. MOCT-MOST 6: 163–183.
Alexander, J. C. (ed.) (1985). Neofunctionalism, Sage, Beverly Hills.
Andorka, R. (1992). Die wirtschaftlichen, gesellschaftlichen und politischen Transformationsprozesse in Ungarn im Lichte der soziologischen Forschung. In Thomas, M. (ed.), Abbruch und Aufbruch. Sozialwissenschaften im Transformationsprozess, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 201–220.
Angel, M. C., and Rands, T. (1996). The world they have lost: An assessment of change in Eastern Europe. Social Research 63: 369–402.
Collins, R. (1971). Functional and conflict theories in educational stratification. American Sociological Review 36: 1002–1019.
Collins, R. (1975). Conflict Sociology, Academic Press, New York.
Cornia, G. (1996). Public policy and welfare conditions during the transition: An overview. MOCTMOST 6: 1–17.
Dahrendorf, R. (1959). Class and Class Conflict in Industrial S ociety, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Diewald, M. (1999). Entwertungen, Umwertungen, Aufwertungen. Unpublished manuscript (Habilitationsschrift), Free University, Berlin.
DIW (1998). Gesamtwirtschaftliche und unternehmerische Anpassungsfortschritte in Ostdeutschland. DIW Wochenbericht 33.
Douglas, M. (1982). In the Active Voice, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
Elster, J., Offe, C., and Preuss, U. K. (1998). Institutional Design in Post-Communist Societies: Rebuilding the Ship at Sea, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Expert Commission (1997). Expert Commission on Economic Development (Jahresgutachten des Sachverständigenrates zur Beurteilung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung) 1997/1998, Metzler-Poeschel, Stuttgart.
Geiβler, R. (1996). Von der realsozialistischen zur sozialstaatlichen Struktur der sozialen Ungleichheit, Umbrüche im ostdeutschen Ungleichheitsgefüge, In Diewald, M., and Mayer, K. U. (eds.), Zwischenbilanz der Wiedervereinigung, Leske & Budrich, Opladen, pp. 67–85.
Genov, N. (1998). Transformation and anomie: Problems of quality of life in Bulgaria. Social Indicator Research 43: 197–209.
Gerber, T., and Hout, M. (1998). More shock than therapy: Market transition, employment, and income in Russia, 1991-1995. Am. J. Sociol. 104: 1–50.
Gubin, O., and Kostiouchenko, O. (1997). Sociologa in Russia: Studies in social stratification. Sociological Forum 12: 135–142.
Hassan, F. M. A., and Peters, K. R. (1996). The structure of incomes and social protection during the transition: The case of Bulgaria. Europe-Asia Studies 48: 629–646.
Hauser, R. (1999). Die Entwicklung der Einkommensverteilung und der Einkommensarmut in den alten und neuen Bundesländern. Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 18: 3–9.
Illner, M. (1998). The changing quality of life in a post-communist country: The case of Czech Republic. Social Indicator Research 43: 141–170.
Inglehart, R., and Baker, W. E. (2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. Am. Sociolog. Rev. 65: 19–51.
Ionin, L. (1995). Ruβland zwischen Pluralismus und Korporatismus. In Wielghos, J. (eds.), Russische Metamorphosen. Aufsäatze zu Politik, Alltag und Kultur, GSFP, Berlin, pp. 57–82.
Jasso, G. (1978). On the justice of earnings. A new specification of the justice evaluation function. Am. J. Sociol. 83: 1398–1419.
Jasso, G. (1999). How much injustice is there in the world? Two new justice indexes. Am. Sociolog. Rev. 64: 133–168.
Jasso, G., and Wegener, B. (1997). Methods for empirical justice analysis. Part 1: Frameworks, models, and quantities. Social Justice Research 10: 393–430.
Kluegel, J. R., and Smith, E. R. (1986). Beliefs About Inequality. American Views About What Is and What Ought to Be, Aldine, New York.
Kolarova, R. (1996). Bulgaria: Could we regain what we have already lost? Social Research 63: 543–558.
Kostova, D. (1997). The employment crisis in the rural regions of Bulgaria. Eastern European Countryside 3: 91–107.
Lenski, G. (1966). Power and Privilege, McGraw Hill, New York.
Leonidov, A. (1996). The Bulgarian model of transition to a market economy: Stabilization and structural aspects. Balkanistica 9: 103–117.
Liebig, S., and Verwiebe, R. (2000). Einstellungen zur sozialen Ungleichheit in Ostdeutschland: Plädoyer für eine doppelte Vergleichsperspektive. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 21: 3–26.
Mayer, K. U., Diewald, M., and Solga, H. (1999). Transition to post-communism in East Germany: Worklife mobility of women and men between 1989 and 1993. Acta Sociologica 42: 35–55.
Mikhalev, V. (1996). Social security in Russia under economic transformation. Europe-Asia Studies 48: 5–25.
Milanovic, B. (1996). Income, inequality and poverty during the transition: A survey of evidence. MOCT-MOST 6: 131–147.
Misztal, B. A. (1996). Post-communist ambivalence: Becoming of a new formation? Europäisches Archiv für Soziologie 1: 104–140.
Müller, K. (1998). Postsozialistische Krisen. In Müller, K. (ed.), Postsozialistische Krisen: Theoretische Ansätze und empirische Befunde, Leske & Budrich, Opladen, pp. 177–249.
OECD. Center for the Co-Operation with the Economies in Transition (1996). Economic Surveys 1995/96, The Czech Republic.
OECD. Center for the Co-Operation with the Economies in Transition (1997). Economic Surveys 1996/97, Bulgaria.
OECD. Center for the Co-Operation with the Economies in Transition (1998). Economic Surveys 1997/98, Czech Republic.
OECD. Center for the Co-Operation with the Economies in Transition (1999). Economic Surveys 1998/99, Bulgaria.
Offe, C. (1997). Varieties of Transition. The East European and East German Experience, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Parsons, P. (1951). The Social System, Free Press, New York.
Popov, V. (1997). Emerging structure of Russian capitalism. Development 3: 37–45.
Potúcek, M., and Radicová, I. (1997). Splitting the welfare state: The Czech and Slovak cases. Social Research 64: 1549–1587.
Quaisser, W. (1997). Strategieansätze und Ergebnisse des Übergangs der mittel-und osteuropäischen Länder zur Marktwirtschaft. Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 44/45: 3–15.
Reiβig, R. (1997). Der ostdeutsche Transformationsprozess: Prämissen—Bilanzen—Schlussfolgerungen. BISS public 21/22: 41–58.
Rose, R., and Haerpfer, C. (1996). The impact of the ready-made state. Die privilegierte Position Ostdeutschlands in der postkommunistischen Transformation. In Wiesenthal, H. (ed.), Einheit als Privileg. Vergleichende Perspektiven auf die Transformation Ostdeutschlands, Campus, Frankfurt/Main, pp. 105–140.
Rutkówski, J. (1997). Low wage employment in transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe. MOCT-MOST 7: 105–130.
Rutkówski, M. (1996). Labour market policies in transition economies. MOCT-MOST 6: 19–38.
Soros, G. (2000). Who lost Russia? The New York Review of Books XLVII: 10–16.
Spéder, Z., Schultz, A., and Habich, R. (1997). Soziale Ungleichheit in der ostmitteleuropäischen Transformation. In Glatzer, W., and Kleinhenz, G. (eds.), Wohlstand für alle? Leske & Budrich, Opladen, pp. 335–408.
Spenner, K. I., and Derek, C. J. (1998). Social economic transformation in Bulgaria: An empirical assessment of the merchant capitalism thesis. Social Forces 3: 937–965.
Srubar, I. (1994). Variants of the transformation process in Central Europe. A comparative assessment. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 15: 198–221.
Stark, G., Liebig, S., and Wegener, B. (1999). Justice Ideologies. In ZUMA-Informationssystem (ZIS), Online Handbook of Social Science Measurement Instruments <http://www.zumamannheim. de/research/methods/zis/.
Surinov, A., and Kolosnitsyn, I. (1996). Social inequality and poverty in Russia. In Ott, N., and Wagner, G. (eds.), Income Inequality and Poverty in Eastern and Western Europe, Physika, Würzborg, pp. 175–187.
Thompson, M., Ellis, R., and Wildavsky, A. (1990). Cultural Theory, Westview Press, Boulder.
Veçernik, J. (1996). Changes in the rate and types of poverty: The Czech and Slovak Republics 1990-1993. In Ott, N., and Wagner, G. (eds.), Income Inequality and Poverty in Eastern and Western Europe, Physika, Würzborg, pp. 147–174.
Wegener, B. (1992). Gerechtigkeitsforschung und Legitimationsnormen. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 4: 269–283.
Wegener, B., and Liebig, S. (1995). Hierarchical and social closure conceptions of distributive social justice. In Kluegel, J. R., Mason, D. S., and Wegener, B. (eds.), Social Justice and Political Change, Public Opinion in Capitalist and Post-Communist States, Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 263–284.
Wegener, B., and Liebig, S. (1998). Gerechtigkeitsideologien 1991-1996. In Meulemann, H. (ed.), Werte und nationale Identitäat im vereinten Deutschland, Leske & Budrich, Opladen, pp. 25–61.
Wegener, B. (1999). Belohnungs-und Prinzipiengerechtigkeit. Die zwei Welten der empirischen Gerechtigkeitsforschung. In Druwe, U., and Kurz, V. (eds.), Politische Gerechtigkeit, Leske & Budrich, Opladen, pp. 167–214.
Wiesenthal, H. (1996). Die Transition Ostdeutschlands: Dimensionen und Paradoxien eines Sonderfalls. In Wiesenthal, H. (ed.), Einheit als Privileg: Vergleichende Perspektiven auf die Transformation Ostdeutschlands, Campus, Frankfurt/Main, pp. 10–38.
Zaslavskaja, T. (1997). Social structure in Russia in the process of transformation. Sisyphus. Social Studies. X: 199–248.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verwiebe, R., Wegener, B. Social Inequality and the Perceived Income Justice Gap. Social Justice Research 13, 123–149 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007545823040
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007545823040